Will President Jonathan address the challenge of legitimacy in Africa?
JUST as the most stable form of the state is an empire so the most sustainable system of rulership for a people that have been enslaved or colonised is a republic and their most legitimate form of government is a democracy.
Review of the 1999 Constitution and Nigerian democracy (3)
DEMOCRACY for the Civilian Elite was the subject of General Abubakar’s address. This is not the Project of Democracy for the Masses, Democracy for the Majority may preserve constitutionalist governments and therefore civilian constitutionalist governments, Not so for Democracy for the Civilian Elite.
Review of the 1999 Constitution and Nigerian democracy (2)
GENERAL Abdusalami Abubakar, himself at a seminar on the same subject as the present one, spoke on this question of reversible and irreversible shift in the balance of power between the ruling factions, the Military and the Civilian. Quoting Graham Allison, the former Head of State said:
Review of the 1999 Constitution, Nigerian democracy (1)
AS steps are taken for the review of the 1999 Constitution, it is appropriate for a perspective on this initiative to be provided. The review of the Constitution should have one overriding aim, namely: to sustain the Democracy Project in Nigeria. The citizenry must be engaged and this as critical participants.
Understanding the political context of INEC’s mission
IN this piece I will focus on government in Africa. In a subsequent piece I will address the implications of the disquisition on government for governance in Africa.
Transforming a defence/ security sector into a defence/security system
IN the November 15, 2011 edition of the Tuesday Platform I reviewed General Don Idada E. Ikponmwen’s proposal for the reform of Nigeria’s defence and security sector. He had argued for a coordination of the services through a new office. He argued that such a reform will improve the efficiency of the defence and security sector.
The extant security situation in the country
SATURDAY Vanguard, October 8, 2011 carried excerpts of the interview with General Don Idada E Ikponmwen, former Provost Marshall of the Nigerian Army and one time Director of Army Legal Services. The highlight of the interview was titled: “It’s sad, government can’t guarantee security Ikponmwen”.
National Assembly review of 1999 Constitution
THE following quote describesdespotic governments: “Like the crowns of France and Spain, the English monarchy had no superior in its realm, it was not in any way answerable to its subjects for its policy or actions, and no lawful means or agencies existed to control, correct, or coerce it if it was guilty of excess or wrong doing.
Richard Joseph and choice of concepts for explaining change of govts (2)
DEMOCRACY has therefore not been the project of any Nigerian electoral or military government. In what sense then was Nigerian politics of the Second Republic prebendal? How did Richard Joseph coin the adjective prebendal?
Richard Joseph and choice of concepts for explaining change of govts
A ONE day commemorative conference on Richard Joseph’s Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria was held at Eko Hotel, September 10, 2011. Unfortunately…
National Assembly review of the 1999 Constitution
THE following quote describes absolutist governments: “Like the crowns of France and Spain, the English monarchy had no superior in its realm, it was not in any way answerable to its subjects for its policy or actions, and no lawful means or agencies existed to control, correct, or coerce it if it was guilty of excess or wrong doing…
The Boko Haram as a national security interest (3)
IN the second essay in these three series on the Boko Haram, I listed the 26 questions which were scholarly addressed by in the August 2009 Minna Meeting by 40 representatives of the Da’wah Coordination Council of Nigeria, DCCN. I did not review the answers of the DCCN to questions it asserted were among those frequently asked by devoted Muslims about the Boko Haram.
Boko Haram challenge to the Nigerian Islamic establishment, orthodoxy (2)
IN the first essay on the monograph of the August 2009 Minna meeting of the DA’WAH COORDINATION COUNCIL OF NIGERIA, DCCN, on the “Boko Haram”, I called attention to the fact that initially the DCCN saw the Boko Haram as a Muslim matter and was primarily concerned with how the majority of orthodox Islam in Nigeria was to respond to the Boko Haram group.
Appraisal of Da’wah Coordination Council of Nigeria, DCCN: The “Boko Haram” tragedy
Forty one associations make up the DCCN. Among these members are Abuja Muslim Forum, AMF, Abuja; Abu Sheriff Islamic Organization, Ilorin; Al-Amin Foundation, Kaduna; Council for Dwah and Welfare of Converts, Bauchi; Council of Ulama of Nigeria, CUN, Kano; El-Kanemi College of Islamic Theology, Maiduguri.
CIVIL WAR DEFINED: Lessons from Libya
Civil War is recognised as such because it always produces during its course more than one government while the existing but threatened state protects the sitting but also embattled government.
Jonathan’s government and internal armed aggressions
The one area in which Nigeria’s social scientific understudy of the British colonial administration is most deficient is in the areas of strategic appreciation of military security and the engineering of stability of defense.
